>> 2 LOCAL COUNTIES CALLING FOR FLEXIBILITY WITH THE START OF A NEW SCHOOL YEAR JUST WEEKS
AWAY. DUVALL COUNTY LOOKING AT
HYBRID PLANS AND SAINT JOHNS COUNTY CONSIDERING DELAYING THE FIRST DAY AS PARENTS WATCH
THESE
DEVELOPMENTS UNFOLD. MAYOR
CURRY SHARES HIS PERSONAL
OBSERVATIONS ON YOUNG PEOPLE
DURING THE PANDEMIC I’M
WATCHING
MY KIDS.
>> THEIR FRIENDS IN THE MANY
YOUNG PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE
CITY STRUGGLE. THE LOCKDOWN AND
THE DISRUPTION OF THEIR DAILY
LIVES HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY
♪
WE MUST GET OUR KIDS AND OUR
KEYS BACK TO A
♪
NORMAL LIFE.
NORMAL HOWEVER IS STILL A LONG
WAY OFF DUVAL COUNTY SCHOOL
LEADERS SAY.
>>MARY BAER: MIDDLE AND HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS MAY NOT HAVE
BACK TO THE CLASSROOM UNTIL
AFTER
LABOR DAY. THAT’S JUST ONE PART
OF THEIR PLAN THAT DOESN’T
EXACTLY FOLLOW THE STATE’S
EMERGENCY ORDER TO REOPEN ALL
SCHOOLS, 5 DAYS
A WEEK AND IN SAINT JOHNS
COUNTY SCHOOL LEADERS THERE ARE
CONSIDERING PUSHING BACK THE
START OF SCHOOL BY 2 WEEKS.
>>TOM WILLS: ALTHOUGH THE
DECISION IS NOT
YET FINAL AS OF RIGHT NOW BOTH
COUNTIES ARE SCHEDULED TO START
THE NEW YEAR AUGUST 10TH.
JUST UNDER 4 WEEKS AWAY IN THE
PAST 90 MINUTES. WE LEARNED
THAT FACE SHIELDS LIKE THIS
AND NECK GAITERS WILL BE
PROVIDED TO PRE K STUDENTS IN
SAINT JOHNS COUNTY MASK WILL
ALSO BE REQUIRED ON BUSES IN
HALLWAYS AND CLASSROOMS
WHERE STUDENTS ARE UNABLE TO
PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING.
OUR NEWS 4 JAX REPORTERS ARE
COVERING THE DEVELOPMENTS IN
BOTH DISTRICTS. WE BEGIN WITH
JENESE HARRIS IN SAINT JOHNS
COUNTY JENESE.
>>JOY PURDY: WELL TOM THEY’RE
TRYING TO FIND A BALANCE IN THE
DISTRICT BETWEEN EDUCATING
THE CHILDREN AND KEEPING THEM
SAFE FROM COVID-19 AT THE SAME
TIME THEY ARE IN DISCUSSIONS
ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THEY WANT
TO PUSH THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
BACK PUSHING THAT
DATE BACK AS FAR BACK AS AFTER
LABOR DAY, BUT THAT IS STILL
SIMPLY AN IDEA
AND HAS NOT BEEN FINALIZED, BUT
EVERYONE SIMPLY WANTS TO KEEP
THE CHILDREN. THE STAFF AND
TEACHERS SAFE.
>> CHILDREN WILL BE HEADED BACK TO THE CLASSROOM ONLINE AND IN PERSON SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO
REDUCE THEIR EXPOSURE TO
COVID-19. WELL
EDUCATING STUDENTS, THE DRUG
CLARK, A TEACHER AT LIBERTY
PINES ACADEMY AND A MOM TOLD
THE SCHOOL BOARD TODAY, SHE’S
WORRIED ABOUT EVERYONE SAFETY
HAS BEEN I
BOTH WORK.
>> AND WE CAME TO THE
REALIZATION THAT IF I CATCH IT
ON MY TRANSMIT IT TO
YOU KNOW TO HIM TO MY CHILDREN
AND IF ONE OF US DIES BECAUSE
OF
COVID-19 WE NEED TO HAVE OUR
PLANS WRITTEN DOWN AND YOU KNOW
LEGALLY SOUND FOR OUR FOR OUR
CHILDREN THE DISTRICT RELEASED
AN 8 PAGE FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTION DOCUMENT FOR PARENTS A
COUPLE
OF NOTES.
>> DESK WILL BE SEPARATED 3 TO
6 FEET WERE POSSIBLE. THERE
WILL NOT BE RAPID TESTING SITES
FOR STUDENTS
AND STAFF MEET THE TEACHER IN
OPEN OUT OPPORTUNITIES WILL BE
ONLINE
THIS YEAR. AND EACH SCHOOL
DETERMINE HOW THEY CONDUCT
KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION AND
STUDENTS AND STAFF WILL BE
PROVIDED WITH PPE INCLUDING
STUDENTS WILL GET MASK HAND
SANITIZER DESK SHIELD
THOSE WILL BE GIVEN TO
ELEMENTARY AND E S
THE STUDENTS AND FACE SHIELDS
AND NECK GAITERS WILL ALSO BE
AVAILABLE FOR PRE
K STUDENTS. CLARK SAYS HER
CHILDREN WILL NOT BE DOING IN
PERSON LEARNING.
>> PERSONALLY MY 2 CHILDREN ARE
NOT GOING BACK INTO THE
BUILDING. I HAVE A RISING 4TH
GRADER AND A
RISING KINDERGARTNER MY
DAUGHTER WILL BE THEY’RE GOING
TO GO WITH GRANDMA DURING THE DAY WITH A CALENDAR SET FOR SCHOOL TO BEGIN SO MAYBE
PARENTS WILL HAVE TO MAKE THE
SAME TOUGH DECISION.
>>JOY PURDY: AND IF YOU HAVE A STUDENT AT SAINT JOHN’S COUNTY REMEMBER YOU HAVE UNTIL THE END
OF THIS WEEK JULY 17TH. THEY
WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU ON WHAT
OPTION
YOU CHOOSE FOR YOUR CHILD AS
THEY GET THEIR EDUCATION FOR
THE
FALL SEMESTER. ALSO KEEP IN
MIND THIS IS STILL JUST A
DISCUSSION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT
THE DISTRICT PLANS ON PUSHING BACK THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. OTHERWISE THE FIRST
DAY OF SCHOOL WILL HAPPEN AS IT